Hat and garment holder



Oct. 29, 1963 o. HlcKEY 3,108,723

HAT AND GARMENT HOLDER Filed Feb. 5, 1962 47% BY 04%), @mM rm United States Patent 3,108,723 HAT AND GARMENT HOLDER Arthur 0. Hickey, 3643 W. 55th Place, Chicago, Ill. Filed Feb. 5, 1962, Ser. No. 171,179 6 Claims. (Cl. 22366) This invention pertains generally to apparatus upon which wearing apparel may be supported, and particularly relates to an improved means for maintaining hats having crowns, as well as other garments, in a predetermined relationship with respect to a supporting element.

When not being worn, clothing and particularly mens hats are frequently susceptible to rumpling and wrinkling due to improper modes of storage. INot uncommonly, the closets in private homes, otherwise well furnished, have sparse facilities for accommodating an array of fe-' doras worn by the men of the house. A closet shelf serves, in many instances, as the only storage facility for hats, and upon this shelf, in addition to the hats, there may be placed gloves, scarves, books, packages, and other trivia, none too carefully placed. It is to be appreciated that a fine soft felt hat permitted but a short period to remain in such a storage area may become crushed and rumpled into an unsightly shape.

Similarly, the coatrooms in places such as mens clubs, churches, and business ofiices are many times lacking in proper storage facilities for mens hats. It is known that in certain of the above places the hats are simply placed on a horizontal peg or stacked several upon the other on a shelf. Of course, by this handling of a soft felt hat the original shape may be soon lost, albeit by ever so small degrees.

In view of the foregoing, it is a broad object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for holding gently a hat in a predetermined spaced relationship from an associated supporting body wherein the hat is positioned in a manner whereby the possibility of crushing the hat by engagement with other hats is materially reduced.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of the type described having facilities for supporting other garments such as scarves and coats in such posit-ions for ready removal without disturbing that part of the apparatus supporting the hat.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a gmment hanger device including a plurality of resilient looplike elements each adapted to be received within the crown of a hat and further providing a cross bar element for supporting scarves and the like thereon.

Yet another object is to provide a garment hanger as described in the latter object adapted for easy mounting on a shelf or a door, and including a plurality of hooklike elements upon which coats, jackets, and other garments may be supported.

A further object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger which is highly practical in use, economical to manufacture, and which is flexibly adapted to support and gently, but firmly, hold hats of various sizes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the garment hanger of the present invention, a hat shown in dotted lines being illustrated operatively mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a resilient hat retainer of the apparatus of FIG. 1, there being shown a pair of reversely extending portions adapted for en gagement with the fingers for compressing the retainer element;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side View of the garment hanger shown in FIG. 1; and

.ard 14.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second form of garment hanger of the present invention.

There is shown in MG. 1 of the drawings a garment hanger designated generally by the numeral 10 made in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invent-ion. The hanger 10 includes a frame 12 constructed of elongated slender members including a standard 14 having secured thereto a rectangular bracket element 16. The bracket 16 is provided with a spaced pair of apertures 18 for receiving fasteners 20 (shown best in FIG. 3) for fixedly securing the garment hanger 10 to the vertical surface of a body 22. The body 22 may be a wall or the face of a door or the like.

A downwardly opening yoke 24 depends from the lower end of the standard 14, shown best in FIG. 1. Comprising outwardly extending legs 26 and 28, the yoke 24 is fixedly secured to the standard .14 whereby the free ends of the legs -2628 are curled upwardly to form hook-like elements each of which is encased in and embraced by a smoothly shaped cap 30 formed preferably of moldab le plastic resinous materials.

At the upper portion of the vertically arranged standard 14 the frame 12 includes an outwardly and downwardly sloping element 32 which is joined to the standard 14 at a curved portion 34. Opposite the curved portion 34' the element 32 merge-s with a horizontally disposed beam 36 disposed at a right angle with the stand- It is to be appreciated that the beam 36 cantilevers in a resilient fashion from the standard 14 through the instrurnentality of the intermediate element 32 Whereby as a load is applied to the beam 36 energy is stored in the portions 34 and 32 to return the beam 36 to the original position upon the removal of the load.

A slender elongated strut 38 is united at its midpoint with the beam 36 and extends generally perpendicular therewith. As shown in this embodiment of the invention, the strut 3 3 is mounted inwardly from the free end of the beam 36, a portion 40 of the beam 36 extending outwardly from the point of intersection \with the strut 38.

A hat retaining member 42 is arranged on each end of the strut -3'8'and on the free end of the beam portion 40. The hat retaining elements 42 are made of resilient material, preferably of metal wire, and are generally looplike in shape being fixedly secured to the associated element 3 8 at a medial point 44 on the periphery of the loop. Depending downwardly from the medial portion 44 the hat retainer 42 includes complementary out-wardly bowed arms 46 and 48, the ends of which are spaced apart thereby defining a gap in the periphery of the loop opposite from the medial portion 44.

Each arm 46, 48 is provided with an inwardly extending handle 50 which projects generally axially of the loop and skews slightly inwardly and upwardly towards the strut 38 as clearly shown in FIG. 3. The handles 50 are adapted to be engaged by the fingers, shown in FIG. 2, for pinching the arms 46 and 48 together, thereby reducing the diameter of the retainer 42 to facilitate placing a hat 52 thereon.

The hat 52, of the type known commonly as a fedora, may be of soft felt construction having a dome or crown 54 surrounded by an outwardly extending brim 56. As envisioned in this invention, the crown 54 is placed over a loop 42 while the fingers compress the handle elements 50, thereby stressing the resilient material of the hat retainer member 42. When the fingers release the handles 50 the arms 46, 48 move outwardly to gently but firmly engage the inside of the crown 54 to maintain the hat 52 in a predetermined position with respect to the body 22. As shown in FIG. '3, the handles 50 are shaped in an upwardly curved fashion to preclude snagging the lining of a hat 54 operatively mounted on the loop-like retainer 42.

It is well known that hats of the type shown herein are available in widely differing sizes, and it is a feature of the invention that the hat retainer 42 may be adapted to accommodate eachof the different sized hats. More particularly, the diameter of the loop element 42 may be reduced by engaging the arms 46, 48 with the hands and forcing them inwardly or outwardly to permanently deform the medial element 44. This operation in no way materially affects the resiliency of the arms 46, 48 which are compressible, as in the direction of the arrows 58 shown in FIG. 3.

The garment hanger 10, shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, facilitates holding three hats and further provides the strut element 38 which may receive thereover scarves or the like in ready position for removal. In addition to the provision for hanging scarves and the like, the garment hanger may support jackets or coats on the yoke element 24 as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3. The resiliency of the frame 12 makes unnecessary the need for massive members for supporting three hats and other garments thereon. Preferably, the garment hanger It may be constructed from resilient metal wire of a diameter of approximately one-eighth of an inch. The hat retainer elements 42 may be fused to the associated members 38 and 40 in a manner well known in the art. Similarly, the yoke 24 and a bracket 16 may be united to the standard 14 of the frame 12. i

There is shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing a second form of the invention designated generally by the numeral 66 and made in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention. The garment hanger includes a frame 62 including a pair of spaced apart elongated slender members 64 and 66. The members 64 and 66 provide a standard element adapted to be arranged vertically upon an associated supporting element such as a door or a wall, the members 64 and 66 being maintained in a spaced apart position by a thin rectangular bracket element 68 rigidly secured thereto, as by welding or brazing.

The lower end of each element 64 and 66 is curved upwardly into a hook-like member 70, the free end of which is embraced by a cap 72. The hook portion 70 is adapted for supporting jackets or other loose garments thereon.

A beam 74 cantilevers outwardly from the upper end of the frame 62, the beam 74 comprising two elongated cylindrical members 76 and 78. It is to be appreciated that the member 76 may be formed integrally with the strut element 64 and the beam element 7 3 may be formed integrally with the standard element 66.

The beam 74 terminates at a cross bar 80 extending perpendicularly therewith and rigidly secured thereto to maintain the elements 76 and 78 in a spaced apart relationship. Each end of the cross bar 80 is provided with a loop-like, hat retainer 42 of the arrangement described in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3. The garment hanger 60 having a pair of frame members cantilevering in a resilient manner from a mounting bracket 68, affords a rugged and attractive fixture well adapted for mounting within the home or in the cloak rooms of public places. Scarves and the like may be draped over the cross bar or strut 89 as well as on the beam portion 74, and other types of garments may also be suspended from the hooks 76 arranged away from the hangers 42 and, thus, not likely to interfere with the hats mounted thereon.

In each form of the invention described herein the cantilevering beam elements are dimensioned so as to position the loop-like hat retainers 42 a distance away from the face of the associated supporting body 22 whereby the brim 56 of the hat 52 is out of engagement with the body 22. By this arrangement the hat is held firmly upon the garment hanger in a manner whereby it is not easily removed from an inadvertent blow nor is it posi- .4 tioned where such hat may be crushed from supporting another hat thereon.

The generally open construction of the garment hangers of this invention permit a better utilization of closet space by affording a facility for holding hats other than on the shelves of the closet. Additionall scarves and other garments may be supported on the garment hanger of this invention wherein a matched ensemble of clothing may be kept on a single hanger.

While there has been described what is at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, it Will be .understood that various modifications may be made therein, and it is intended to cover in the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. An apparatus for maintaining hats in a predetermined relationship with respect to an associated support element comprising: a frame including a base having means thereon for securing said frame to such support element, and an outwardly extending portion united to said base and projecting away from such support element, said outwardly extending portion serving to maintain a plurality of hat retaining members in spaced relationship from each other and from the support element, each hat retaining member comprising a loop sized substantially complementary to the inner periphery of the-crown of a mans hat, said loop being united at a medial portion of its periphery to said frame and having a gap in its periphery opposite from said medial portion to define resilient, arcuate arms convergingly compressible to receive the crown of a hat over said loop and divergingly expansible to engage over a substantial portion of their length the inner periphery of the hat crown for holding such hat in the predetermined relationship with respect to the support element, said medial portion of said loop being deformable to vary the outward bias of said arcuate arms for adjusting the size and shape of said hat retaining member to accommodate the various sizes and shapes of mens hats.

2. An apparatus for maintaining hats and other garments in a predetermined relationship with respect to an associated support element, comprising: a frame having upwardly curved hook-like members for supporting gar ments, said frame including a base having means thereon for securing said frame to such support element, and an outwardly extending portion united to said base and projecting away from such support element, said outwardly extending portion serving to maintain a plurality of hat retaining members in spaced relationship from each other and from the support element, each hat retaining member comprising a loop sized substantially complementary to the inner periphery of the crown of a mans hat, said loop being united at a medial portion of its periphery to said frame and having a gap in its periphery opposite from said medial portion to .define resilient, arcuate arms convergingly compressible to receive the crown of a hat over said loop and divergingly expansible to engage over a substantial portion of their. length the inner periphery of the hat crown for holding such hat in the predetermined relationship with respect to the support element, said medial portion of said loop being deformable to vary the outward bias of said arcuate arms for adjusting the size and shape of said hat retaining member to accommodate the various sizes and'shapes of mens hats.

3. An apparatus for mounting hats and other garments in a predetermined relationship with respect to an associated support element, comprising: a frame including a standard of two elongated slender members maintained in parallel spaced apart relationiship by a mounting bracket united thereto for positioning said standard on such support element in a generally vertical position, a portion of said standard having upwardly curved hooklike members formed integrally therewith for supporting garments, a beam resiliently cantilevering outwardly and downwardly from an upper end of said standard, said beam including two elongated slender members maintained in parallel spaced apart relationship by an elongated strut united thereto and extending substantially perpendicular therewith, the opposite ends of said strut each supporting a hat retaining member comprising a loop sized substantially complementary to the inner periphery of the crown of a mans hat, said loop being united at a medial portion of its periphery to said strut and having a gap in its periphery opposite from said medial portion to define resilient, arcuate arms convergingly compressible to receive the crown of a hat over said loop and divergingly expansible to engage over a substantial portion of their length the inner periphery of the crown for holding such hat in the predetermined relationship with respect to the support element, said medial portion of said loop being deformable to vary the outward bias of said arcuate arms for adjusting the size and shape of said hat retaining member to accommodate the varying sizes and shapes of mens hats.

4. The apparatus for supporting hats and other garments defined in claim 3 and further comprising a handle element on each of said arms at the distal end thereof adjacent to said gap in the periphery of said loop, each handle element extending generally axially of said loop and skewing slightly in the direction toward said medial portion of said loop.

5. An apparatus for maintaining hats and other garments in a predetermined relationship with respect to an associated support element, comprising: a frame of elongated slender resilient material including a standard and a beam disposed at a right angle to said standard and interconnected therewith in cantilever fashion by an intermediate element disposed at an acute angle with said standard, thereby to permit a degree of resilient deflection for said beam; a yoke secured to a lower portion of said standard, said yoke opening downwardly and having upwardly turned hook-like portions for supporting garments; a bracket secured to a mid portion of said standard for attaching said apparatus to such support element; an elongated strut disposed substantially perpendicular to said beam and fixedly united thereto; and a trio of bat retaining members, each member comprising a loop sized substantially complementary to the inner periphery of the crown of a mans hat, said loop depending at a medial portion of its periphery from one of the free ends of said beam and said strut and having a gap in the periphery of each loop opposite said medial portion to define resilient, arcuate arms convergingly compressible to receive the crown of a hat over each loop and divergingly expansible to engage over a substantial portion of their length the inner periphery of the crown for holding such hat in the predetermined relationship with respect to the support element, said medial portion of said loop being deformable to vary the outward bias of said arcuate arms for adjusting the size and shape of said hat retaining member to accommodate the various sizes and shapes of mens hats.

6. The apparatus for supporting hats and other garments defined in claim 5 and further comprising a handle element on each of said arms at the distal end thereof adjacent to said gap in the periphery of said loop, each handle element extending generally axially of said loop and skewing slightly in the direction toward said medial portion of said loop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 421,879 Wilson Feb. 18, 1890 2,177,546 Johnson Oct. 24, 1939 2,937,762 Deuter May 24, 1960 2,994,436 Stull et al Aug. 1, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 608,231 Great Britain Sept. 13, 1948 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR MAINTAINING HATS IN A PREDETERMINED RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO AN ASSOCIATED SUPPORT ELEMENT COMPRISING: A FRAME INCLUDING A BASE HAVING MEANS THEREON FOR FOR SECURING SAID FRAME TO SUCH SUPPORT ELEMENT, AND AN OUTWARDLY EXTENDING PORTION UNITED TO SAID BASE AND PROJECTING AWAY FROM SUCH SUPPORT ELEMENT, SAID OUTWARDLY EXTENDING PORTION SERVING TO MAINTAIN A PLURALITY OF HAT RETAINING MEMBERS IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP FROM EACH OTHER AND FROM THE SUPPORT ELEMENT, EACH HAT RETAINING MEMBER COMPRISING A LOOP SIZED SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLEMENTARY TO THE INNER PERIPHERY OF THE CROWN OF A MAN''S HAT, SAID LOOP BEING UNITED AT A MEDIAL PORTION OF ITS PERIPHERY TO SAID FRAME AND HAVING A GAP IN ITS PERIPHERY OPPOSITE FROM SAID MEDIAL PORTION TO DEFINE RESILIENT, ARCUATE ARMS CONVERGINGLY COMPRESSIBLE TO RECEIVE THE CROWN OF A HAT OVER SAID LOOP AND DIVERGINGLY EXPANSIBLE TO ENGAGE OVER A SUBSTANTIAL PORTION OF THEIR LENGTH THE INNER PERIPHERY OF THE HAT CROWN FOR HOLDING SUCH HAT IN THE PREDETERMINED RELATIONSHIP WITH RESPECT TO THE SUPPORT ELEMENT, SAID MEDIAL PORTION OF SAID LOOP BEING DEFORMABLE TO VARY THE OUTWARD BIAS OF SAID ARCUATE ARMS FOR ADJUSTING THE SIZE AND SHAPE OF SAID HAT RETAINING MEMBER TO ACCOMMODATE THE VARIOUS SIZES AND SHAPES OF MEN''S HATS. 